June 5 2009 - Thornlea - SharpSchool

Thornlea Newsletter Page 3
Thornlea Outdoor Education Canoe Trip 2009
From May 19-22, Thornlea’s Outdoor Education students participated on a 4-day canoe trip
into Algonquin Park. As the culminating activity for the course, students spent much of the
semester preparing for the trip of a lifetime. Canoeing, portaging, camping, group dynamics
and leadership skills were learned and practiced prior to the trip and then, as in Thornlea
tradition, had a chance to demonstrate those skills on the annual canoe trip. Accompanying
the students were teachers Mr. Hutchison, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Ackerman, Ms. Pike and Miss
Morris-Pocock. Many thanks to them for making the trip such a success!
This year’s trip had the class arriving at school at 6:30 am on the first day of the trip. Lastminute
packing was completed and the bus loaded with paddles, packs, fishing rods, food,
and of course, students. Following a 2 hour bus ride, we arrived at Algonquin Outfitters just
outside the park where we pick up the remainder of our equipment for the trip. A short while
later we finally arrived at our departure point – Smoke Lake. Once the bus was unpacked and
the canoes loaded, we were finally ready to set out on our great journey. At this point in time,
the group met its first challenge – the wind picked up and it began to rain. We would find
ourselves paddling into the wind with rain falling steadily for the remainder of the day.
Fortunately for us, the weather improved and for the remainder of the trip we had sunny skies!
Travelling south across Smoke Lake the route took us to our first portage into Ragged Lake.
From here we paddled and portaged into Big Porcupine Lake where we would spend our first
night. From here we paddled east to Harness Lake, where we camped on the most beautiful
campsite. Many would agree that this lake was the highlight of the trip! On the third day we
worked our way north into Cache Lake, then west into Little Island Lake where we spent our
last night. Finally, after all the paddling and portaging we returned to Smoke Lake to find our
bus waiting for us to take us home to Thornlea.
What was the canoe trip like Many students enrolled in Outdoor Education will tell you it was
the highlight of their time in high school. Travelling in the pristine Canadian Wilderness by
canoe is an experience unlike no other, with friends and good times. We encountered rain,
wind, gruelling portages, muddy trails carrying heavy packs and canoes, and paddled until it
felt like our arms would drop off. Our shoulder and backs ached from the portages, we were
sometimes swarmed by black flies and mosquitoes, slept on the hard ground in tents and ate
our food over an open fire. But we also had beautiful sunny skies, warm breezes, refreshing
swims in the lake, laughter around the campfire, experienced the “rush” of completing a long
and strenuous portage, met new friends and solidified old friendships. We gazed at the
millions of stars you could see at night, watched satellites circle the Earth and counted
shooting stars. We perfected the art of paddling a canoe, learned new camping skills,
prepared tasty meals and slept soundly after a hard day at school in Algonquin Park. Arriving
back at the bus we felt both the elation that we had completed the trip but also the
disappointment that we couldn’t just turn around and keep going in our canoes, on to another
portage that would lead us to our next lake. The canoe trip presented us with many
challenges and hardships, but we wouldn’t change it for anything in the world!
Thornlea’s Outdoor Education Class of 2009